Rep. Ralph Norman

Medicare Audiologist Access and Services Act of 2021 This bill provides for Medicare coverage of certain audiologist services. Specifically, the bill expands coverage to include diagnostic and treatment services that are furnished by audiologists and that would otherwise be covered if provided by a physician, including incidental services, regardless of whether such services are provided pursuant to a referral from, or under the supervision of, a physician or other health care practitioner.

Protecting the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Act of 2021 This bill prohibits (1) the President or the Department of Health and Human Services from declaring emergencies or disasters for the purpose of imposing gun control; and (2) a federal officer or employee, or person operating under color of federal law, from banning the manufacture, sale, or transfer of firearms or ammunition while acting in support of relief from a major disaster or emergency.

Qualified Immunity Act of 2021 This bill codifies the defense of qualified immunity for law enforcement officers in any case under provisions regarding civil actions for deprivation of rights under color of law. Specifically, a law enforcement officer subject to such an action in his or her individual capacity shall not be found liable if the officer establishes that the right, privilege, or immunity secured by the Constitution or federal law was not clearly established at the time of the deprivation, or that at this time, the state of the law was not sufficiently clear that every reasonable law enforcement officer would have understood that the conduct alleged constituted a violation of the Constitution or federal law; or a court of competent jurisdiction had issued a final decision on the merits holding, without reversal, vacatur, or preemption, that the specific conduct alleged to be unlawful was consistent with the Constitution and federal laws. A law enforcement agency or unit of local government that employed a law enforcement officer subject to such an action shall not be liable if the officer is found not liable and to have been acting within the scope of his or her employment.

No Social Media Accounts for Terrorists or State Sponsors of Terrorism Act of 2021 This bill bars access to certain social media platforms by individuals designated as terrorists or senior officials of a government that is a state sponsor of terrorism. Specifically, the bill requires the President to prohibit providers of social media platforms (i.e., platforms that allow users to generate and share content and that have over 100,000 active users) from making such platforms available to barred individuals or officials. The bill does, however, allow officials to use these platforms solely for legitimate emergency alert purposes. Violations of this prohibition are subject to civil and criminal penalties. In addition, the President may waive the prohibition in the interests of U.S. national security. The Department of the Treasury must report to Congress on (1) the status and impact of the prohibitions of this bill, and (2) efforts to facilitate the free flow of information and access to communications technologies by civil society and democratic activists in Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and other countries controlled by authoritarian regimes.

Adoption Information Act This bill requires federally funded family planning programs to provide each person who inquires about their services with specified information about adoption centers in their state. The Department of Health and Human Services must provide the programs with pamphlets containing the required information.

Protecting American Energy Jobs Act This bill limits the President's authority to prohibit or withdraw federal land or waters from energy production activities. Specifically, the bill requires the President and federal agencies to obtain the approval of Congress before prohibiting or substantially delaying certain new energy or mineral leases or permits on federal lands, including oil and gas leases, coal leases, hard rock leases, or critical minerals leases. In addition, the President and agencies must obtain the approval of Congress before withdrawing certain federal lands from mineral and geothermal leasing activities. Further, the bill repeals the President's authority to withdraw unleased lands on the outer Continental Shelf from oil and gas leasing. The bill nullifies Executive Order 13990 titled Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis; Executive Order 14008 titled Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad; and the Department of the Interior's Secretarial Order 3395 concerning a temporary suspension of delegated authority to all of Interior's Bureaus and Offices, including the authority to approve leases.

Modern Worker Empowerment Act This bill requires the use of common law rules for defining an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Generally, an individual is an employee under common law rules when an employer controls what work will be done and how it will be done, among other factors.

Students Before Unions Act This bill requires local educational agencies, as a condition of receiving certain elementary and secondary school emergency relief subgrants, to publicly disclose negotiations with labor organizations (e.g., teacher unions) that are related to providing in-person instruction.

Verification and Oversight for Transparent Elections, Registration, and Identifications Act or the VOTER ID Act This bill requires states to conduct post-election audits of federal elections and attest to the integrity and security of voting procedures in those elections. Specifically, states must conduct a post-election audit after each federal election. The audit must include the accuracy of voting systems used in the election and an assessment of state compliance with applicable election laws and procedures, including those governing the requirements for voter identification and use of mail-in voting. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must develop best practices for conducting post-election audits, including recommendations to (1) conduct an audit using a bipartisan entity, and (2) complete an audit within 30 days after the state certifies the results of a congressional election. Additionally, states must attest to the integrity and security of their voter identification procedures and maintenance of voter registration lists. States must submit to the EAC, and make publicly available on their websites, these audit results and attestations.

Protecting American Energy Production Act This bill prohibits the President from declaring a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless Congress authorizes the moratorium. The bill also expresses the sense of Congress that states should maintain primacy for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on state and private lands.